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Emigration and the Evian Conference  Historical Film Footage

Evian Conference fails to aid refugees

Evian, France, July 13, 1938

[Silent, 0:35]

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 UCLA Film and Television Archive

Delegates of 32 countries assembled at the Royal Hotel in Evian, France, from July 6 to 15, 1938, to discuss the problem of Jewish refugees. The refugees were desperate to flee Nazi persecution in Germany, but could not leave without having permission to settle in other countries. The Evian Conference resulted in almost no change in the immigration policies of most of the attending nations. The major powers--the United States, Great Britain, and France--opposed unrestricted immigration, making it clear that they intended to take no official action to alleviate the German-Jewish refugee problem.